


Irreplaceable

by circuscrow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Blade of Marmora Shiro (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, Healing, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Minor Character Death, Non-Penetrative Sex, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sheith Month 2018, Vague descriptions of violence, vague descriptions of sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-05-31 21:42:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/circuscrow/pseuds/circuscrow
Summary: In one last desperate effort to save his own life, Shiro flees from his Galra captors, only to be found by a strange half human, half Galra. But if Keith can bring him to safety, Shiro will follow him anywhere.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So here we are, it's Sheith month. I've been working on this thing since April and is my most ambitious project to date. Updates won't be every day but close enough to it.
> 
> I believe I've tagged everything I needed to, and it's rated mature instead of teen just to be safe. This fic is more about love and healing than blowing up aliens, but just because of the setting it still happens.
> 
> Today's prompt is: Save Me
> 
> Yes, most of the prompts will not match the day. Sorry.

The time for dignity and honor was long passed. Shiro wanted to grasp tightly to any chance he had and refuse to let go, but he didn’t have anything. So he fought, screamed, and begged.

“No!”

“Stop!”

“No more!”

“You can’t do this!”

But they could, they could do anything they wanted, they had already taken his arm and his leg, and they had taken his freedom long before that. Now they were going to take the rest of him. Whether it was reward or punishment for his success in the arena, Shiro would rather die than be turned into the weapon they intended to make him.

It didn’t matter that the sentries that carried him were larger than him, that there were aliens to catch him should he escape their clutches, that around any given corner there were more enemies ready to capture him, and there might not even be an escape beyond that. All that Shiro knew was that he’d rather be killed than be subjected to whatever they had in store for him.

Only through luck did Shiro get his opening. His wrist, the one still made of his own flesh, was sliced open on the sharp edge of a sentry, and it was his own blood that allowed him to slip free. Forcing himself forward, he used surprise to take out the other sentries, and then the alien guards. If they didn’t keep him as a gladiator for as long as they did, Shiro wouldn’t have been as ready as he was, ready to fight and to use any tactic necessary to claw his way to freedom.

High on adrenaline, he ran the moment he had a chance, anything to make keeping him less appealing. He was done being a prisoner and was fully ready to be shot in the back for it. But a shot never came, he kept running and running, hiding where he could and finally, the pursuing aliens passed him while he was ducked behind containers.

How had that worked?

It wouldn’t work for much longer since Shiro had no concept of where he was or anywhere he could go to. A short while later, alarms started screaming. 

This was it. One way or another, everything would end here, and he didn’t want to be hiding when it did. He was ready to meet whatever end would happen, and to keep fighting if he had to. Running out from behind the containers and down the corridor, Shiro was surprisingly met by no one. He kept running and still no one. More running and — there was someone, a group of sentries, but they ran right past him when Shiro hid away again. Was something else going on or did they really not know where he was? Didn’t these aliens have cameras?

His lucky streak finally came to an end when sentires found him with nowhere to hide. Shiro charged forward, ready to fight, and easily took out two, but it was the third that escaped Shiro’s attack. It was far enough to raise it’s blaster, to get a clear shot, and Shiro was off balance enough that he had no way to defend himself. He readied himself for the inevitable.

But the sentry was sliced in half. And as the pieces fell, it revealed its attacker.

Shiro regained his balance and took a defensive stance. It was surprising to see an alien that was shorter than him. Not by much, only a few inches, but nearly every other alien Shiro had seen towered over him. It stared at him with cold, round, unblinking eyes that glowed through the shadows cast by its hood. Its voice was most surprising, whatever he was expecting, it’s not what he heard.

“Are you the one that set off the alarms?”

He took a moment to respond, to process what he was seeing. Someone who wasn’t attacking him, who might be on his side! Or at the very least not allied with the aliens keeping him prisoner. Maybe his luck hadn’t run out just yet.

His response was interrupted by the calls of the aliens, alerting others to their location, that they found the escapee and an intruder. But after years of captivity on constant alert, Shiro sprang into action with no hesitation, and his new companion was equally ready.

Together they took out the aliens easily and Shiro was following the intruder down the corridor. At least they knew where they was going. “If you’re not with them, follow me,” was all they said. So Shiro followed.

If they could get him out of here, he would follow them anywhere.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro learns a little more about his savior, and realizes perhaps he's not as safe as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Honesty

The alien lead Shiro to a hangar, where a small ship waited in the shadows for the return of it’s pilot. Shiro was all but thrown into the cockpit as the alien jumped into the pilot’s seat. And then they were off, barely making it through the hangar doors and slipping away from what Shiro now saw was an enormous ship, the sheer size of it reminiscent of a city. It was disconcerting how much larger it was than the one that abducted him in the first place.

He didn’t recognize any of the star patterns, no constellations or clusters looked even remotely familiar to him, he knew he was in deep space, he just didn’t realize how deep. Shiro doubted he was even in his home galaxy. The irony was not lost on him, of spending so long dreaming of traveling the stars, only to be abducted by unimaginably cruel aliens. Despite escaping the ship, he still felt trapped, lost and not knowing how to get home. It felt like his life had become a sick joke for the powers that be.

His companion was flying steadily, fiddling with the buttons on the control panel. Shiro was left to question the nature of his situation. What was this alien going to do with him? Was he even safe? What would he have to do next? As tired as Shiro was, he couldn’t relax, his body and mind refused to be anything other than completely on guard.

A screen in front of them flared to life showing the image of a man. No. An alien. Shiro’s insides went cold.

“Kolivan. I have successfully obtained the data and am transmitting it now.” His companion spoke confidently, if respectfully. This must be their superior.

“Very good. If you are not in need of assistance I’ll send you the information for your next assignment.”

“Actually, I’ve run into an unexpected situation.”

“A situation? Are you compromised.”

“I’m not…” They seemed to steady himself for something. “I picked up an escaping prisoner, he was causing an uproar during my withdrawal.”

The alien on screen when silent, and he looked like he was holding back anger that was all too familiar to Shiro.

“I don’t think I need to tell you what kinds of problems this poses.”

“No sir.”

“Take him to Ulaz, contact me again when you arrive.” The screen went dark.

Shiro felt like he was suffocating in his barely repressed panic. Before he knew it, he was already coming up with plans to take control of the ship. The tense silence persisted until Shiro finally choked out, “You’re one of them.” He really didn’t meant to sound so accusatory, but maybe he was a little justified.

The alien contemplated their answer, Shiro noticed how their posture became stiffer and more guarded than before. “No,” was all they said.

“But he’s one of them. _You’re_ one of them!”

“ _No_ ,” they said more forcefully. “We’re not with them.”

Shiro remained silent, not sure if he should believe this.

“You’re human, aren’t you?”

That was an unexpected question.

“I’ve never seen another one before.”

Shiro was silent for a long time as he contemplated why this alien would want to see a human, let alone know what one is.

“I’m human too.”

What? “That’s impossible.”

The alien’s face dematerialized, it wasn’t a face at all but a mask. Once the last remnants of the mask winked out of existence, it revealed an undeniably human face. Not completely. He was a soft lavender color and his ears were pointed, but everything from his eyes to his mouth was completely human. He looked at him expectantly.

“That’s… you’re really human.”

“I am. Half, but I am.”

“What are you doing out here?”

The alien, human, made a thoughtful face, more of a pout really, while he thought of his answer. “I don’t really know how much I can tell you.”

“Can you at least tell me who I’m escaping from?”

“You don’t even know that?”

Shiro shot him a glare.

“The Galra Empire, they control most of the universe.”

“And you’re also—”

“Only half,” the alien snaps. “And not all Galra side with the Empire. There’s a lot of us who to want to stop it.”

Shiro takes a moment to process this information. The aliens who’ve held him for so long have a name now. Galra. But there are others who oppose them, and one of them was human. So that must mean they’re at least a little friendly with his kind. Right? At least they weren’t actively trying to enslave him again. Maybe they would at least give him a chance to rest.

“Keith.”

The break in silence was startling.

“I’m sorry?”

“My name is Keith.”

A very human name. “Shiro.”

The alien, Keith, seemed almost uncomfortable. “Are you okay?”

Honestly, Shiro didn’t remember the last time someone was worried if he was okay or not. “You’re really not with them?”

“No.”

“Then I’m okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be posted Thursday. Thank you so much if you're already sticking with me, I really hope you're enjoying yourselves.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith doesn't regret saving this human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Suspicion

Shiro didn’t look well.

Sure, Keith had no real frame of reference for humans outside himself, and he now saw there was a lot of variation between himself and Shiro. Keith was purple and Shiro was ... Keith didn't even know what color that was, and if his own height was anything to go off of he expected humans to be a lot shorter, but Shiro was taller than Keith. It was … weird, to say the least.

But it didn’t matter. It showed in his eye, the way he carried himself, the undertone of his voice. They gave the impression of a man who has been fighting for a long time and was still not sure if he’s allowed to stop. He immediately knew that Kolivan would be displeased, but seeing Shiro struggling for his life against the sentries, and then the defensive stance he took against him, it tugged at his heartstrings, he wanted to give this man peace.

Keith knew that once he landed, Kolivan would have harsh words with him. Perhaps he’d be taken off assignment again and have to return to HQ. Even if the other Blades didn’t agree, he still felt that what he was doing was important. Perhaps the presence of Shiro triggered dormant human instincts.

The human in question never once let down his guard. It was a long flight, and Keith didn’t see him doze off once despite the dark circles under his eyes, and any rations he offered weren’t eaten until Keith was halfway through his own portion. When was the last time anyone had shown this man kindness? How long had he been a prisoner and what did they do to him?

Ulaz was already expecting them, Kolivan must have briefed him on the situation. He was waiting in the hangar when they landed and Keith greeted him courteously. A strange look crossed Ulaz’s face when Shiro exited the ship behind him. Lips pulled into a thin line, he said, “We have much to do. But first, you need to answer a few of our questions, Shiro. Come with me.” And Ulaz lead them further into the outpost.

Keith had never been to this specific outpost, but he knew Ulaz well. It was better for Shiro that he was one of the more compassionate of the Blades, he’d probably treat Shiro with more of a measure of understanding than most others that came to mind. That being said, Keith wasn’t entirely sure which measure of gentleness would work best for a human.

The three men gathered in a conference room, Ulaz sitting directly across from Shiro, Keith stood off to the side. “Now Shiro, tell me of your time in the Empire’s captivity.”

And Shiro did. It took prompting from Ulaz, but soon he wove a horror story of violent gladiator fights, torturous conditions, and being used as a subject for experimentation. Keith hated how much that explained. Whatever Kolivan would decide to do, it wouldn’t make him regret saving this man.

As Ulaz’s questions winded down, Shiro looked more and more defeated. It wasn’t fair that Shiro had to relive these experiences, but the Blade of Marmora wouldn’t use fairness as an excuse to compromise their secrecy, Keith was starting to disagree with that stance.

“One last question. Do you remember anything significant, out of the ordinary, happening within the last deca-phoeb?”

“I… I don’t even know what that is,” Shiro answered.

“I see. … That concludes my questions.

“Unfortunately, we have to replace your … mechanical enhancements.” Keith watched as Shiro’s eye dulled, his face sombered as he looked down at his lap. “First we’ll gather what data we can from them, and then we will construct new versions free of any agency from the Empire. I need to make a few preparations, then we can begin within the varga. Keith, you are to stay with Shiro at all times to ensure no incidents happen. Kolivan is also expecting your call.”

Keith’s voice caught in his throat as he answered. “Understood.” It felt cruel, removing and replacing a man’s limbs based on suspicion alone while continuing to treat the formerly imprisoned man as a prisoner still.

As the door closed behind Ulaz, Keith placed his hand on Shiro’s shoulder, the contact startling him. “Are you okay?”

Shiro looked up at him, eye lacking the hopeful luster of a newly freed man he had mere vargas ago. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

He glanced away, and then shrugged. “What does it matter? I didn’t get the impression I have much choice.”

“But you can talk about it.”

It was a while before Shiro finally spoke again, his voice brittle. “I’m tired. I’m not fighting in the arena anymore, and I don’t know what to do now. And I’m tired of having stuff done to me.”

Keith pulled over Ulaz’s empty chair and sat next to him, close enough that their legs nearly touched. “I’m not going to say this is fine, because it’s not. But you’re going to get through this.”

Shiro didn’t respond, so Keith continued.

“Ulaz is a good doctor. And really we just want to make sure you’re okay, you just got out of a really bad place and there’s no way you’re in good shape.”

“I do feel pretty shitty,” Shiro mumbled.

“And Ulaz is going to take care of that. It’ll be over in no time, you’ll just go to sleep and you’ll wake up feeling better than you have in a long time.” Shiro still didn’t look good, but at least he was looking at Keith again. “And maybe, when it’s over, you can have some piece of mind that it’s your body, and not the Empire’s.”

Shiro sucked in a breath as he clenched his human fist, he was trembling slightly. Keith gently rested a hand on his knee.

“Do you… Do you think I can have a normal hand again?” Even though Keith had already seen it, Shiro looked like he was trying to cover up the metal claw that was where his right hand should be.

It was heartbreaking to watch. This man who had been fighting for deca-phoebs looked so fragile, as if he could shatter at any moment, it filled Keith with a protectiveness he’d never felt before. He squeezed his knee in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “Of course you can.”

It was hollow, but Keith got to see Shiro smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I say Shiro has a claw, I don't mean sharp fingers. I mean he has an actual like, [crab claw](https://blogofbods.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/captain_buccaneercoco1.jpg).
> 
> Also we're at the part where I have to tell you, all of this was written before season 6. And then season 6 was released and things got weird enough to where I almost didn't want to post this anymore (even in the middle of uploads I wonder if I should just delete everything). But I'm proud of what I wrote and it was a lot work for me so I want to keep going. But Shiro getting his arm replaced is something I wanted to happen for a long time, and it just so happens that it's going to happen in canon now. Probably. But that's not the end of it, it gets weirder, I promise. I really hope you stick with me until the end and maybe like where this goes.
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter will be posted tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is less okay than he thought he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Pain

Pulling the data off Shiro’s prosthetics was boring and long. He was hooked up to wires and sensors for hours as Ulaz monitored the transfer, keeping what he thought could be and destroying anything that could potentially compromise the outpost. As it turned out, there was a lot of that. Keith told Ulaz about his request for a hand, to which Ulaz agreed easily.

Aside for a few minutes to call Kolivan, Keith stayed with Shiro the whole time. Keith’s presence was comforting, at the very least it gave him a constant to latch onto. Maybe it was because he was the only other (half) human he’s seen in years, or maybe that he is the first person to not try to kill him in just as long.

“That should be all for now. I uploaded a software that will block any outside signals in case you are being tracked. HQ will send blueprints for new prosthetics, after scaling them to your size we can start construction. Keith, if you take over the outpost’s duties I can complete everything in a few quintants.”

Keith simply nodded in response.

Ulaz returned his attention to Shiro. “You must be tired. If you would like, you can rest now. The remaining results from your medical tests won’t be ready for quite some time.”

Shiro took a deep breathe and answered, “Thank you, I think I need it.”

A monitor off to the side gave the alert of an incoming transmission. “That must be the blueprints. Keith, please bring Shiro to the sleeping quarters.”

They only walked a short distance down the hall before Keith admitted, “This is my first time here, I actually have no idea where I’m going.” Shiro almost laughed.

Eventually they found what looked like bedrooms, and since Ulaz was the only other person at the outpost, there was a good chance that they were unoccupied.

“You can stay in this one while you’re here. A communal bathroom is right next door, feel free to use it any time. This panel opens the closet, I’ll see what I can do about getting you new clothes.”

Shiro tried to take it all in, but the bed looked far too inviting, he hadn’t slept on a proper bed since he left Earth. The call of a shower was equally strong. “Thanks, Keith.”

Keith nodded. “I’m taking the room right across the hall, so I won’t be far if you need something.”

“Thanks. Again,” Shiro answered. Once again he was at a loss for what to do, he just didn’t want to be left alone, but at the same time he was still wary. “I … I think I’m going to go wash up.”

“I’ll go see if I can fine you any clothes.”

And Shiro was alone.

After trying to compose himself, Shiro headed off to the bathrooms. He was mostly wondering if he could figure out how to operate an alien shower when his insides froze over.

Shiro hadn’t seen himself in a mirror since before his abduction, and now he was stopped in front of one, unable to move as he stared at the reflection of a stranger where Takashi Shirogane was supposed to be. The man in the reflection was pale, reminiscent of a corpse. He still had nightmares about the day he got the lateral scar across his face, and now he knew it was just as visible as it felt. Every hair on his head was a shock of snowy white. Most jarring of all was his eye. His left eye was gone, instead in its place was a metallic orb. It felt no different than his real eye, even when he raised his hand to touch it through his eyelid. He was even seeing out of it perfectly fine. 

Shiro didn’t know he lost his eye.

If his eye could be so flawlessly imitated, what else had been replaced? How close were the Galra to creating their weapon? Shiro barely felt the bile rise in his throat before he was vomiting into the sink.

After his stomach was emptied, he slumped to the floor. The sound of his metal leg scraping against the tile sounded like a curse, bringing up memories of when he lost it, when he was thrown across the arena and it was more convenient for them to amputate it instead of waiting for the shattered bones to heal. His arm was purposefully taken when it was still healthy, but at least the first model was still a hand. They gave him this claw when that broke along with most of his ribs. Maybe those weren’t even real anymore, Shiro had no way to tell.

Suddenly, Shiro was back at the outpost, sitting on a bed and looking into a pair of very human and very worried eyes. His throat felt raw, was he screaming? There was blood on his hand. Shiro slumped forward, trembling against Keith’s shoulder as he dragged air into his lungs. A soothing hand rubbed his back as he failed to pull himself back together.

Keith was saying something, but Shiro couldn’t hear anything except his heart beating and the mechanical whirl of his prosthetics as they responded to his slightest movements. Shiro almost fell into a panic again when Keith pulled away, but after a squeeze of his hand and more words that Shiro couldn’t hear, he walked out of the room, leaving Shiro alone with nothing to do except keep breathing.

He wasn’t sure how long Keith was gone, but he came back. He sat right next to Shiro and pulled him down to rest on him again, a gesture Shiro didn’t realize how much he needed until he was finally breathing easy again. 

Once his heartbeat calmed and his breathing felt less labored, Shiro lifted his head, feeling dazed and numb. He looked down into those purple eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Keith asked softly.

“Bad.” Shiro’s voice was hoarse, it was almost painful to talk. “Really bad.”

“Here, drink this.” Keith lifted his hand and wrapped his fingers around what looked like a juice box.

“What — ”

“Its water. You haven’t had any in awhile.”

Keith instructed Shiro to drink slowly. It did make him feel better, the sting in his throat cooled and the throbbing in his head muted. When the water was finished, Keith guided Shiro to lie down. “Washing up can wait, you shouldn’t push yourself.”

Shiro couldn’t even hide his apprehension.

“I’m be right here, you won’t be alone.”

Even fighting it, sleep came soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No matter how much I try, it's hard for me to make chapters longer. I admire anyone who can consistently write 3k or more words per chapter.
> 
> Next chapter is getting posted Sunday, I hope you're enjoying yourselves.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is less okay than Keith thought he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Trust

“Did the sedative work?”

Ulaz was back on the computer, resuming work on Shiro’s prosthetics.

“Yes. I think it was a panic attack. Or something,” Keith answered, and then quickly added, “He wasn’t attacking or anything. I think something freaked him out.”

Ulaz nodded in understanding. “There’s probably a lot that will do that right now. His experiences were traumatic, to say the least.”

“Sounds like you know more than you’re letting on.”

“When I was undercover I worked as a doctor to the gladiators. I saw firsthand what he’s been through.”

Keith rarely heard about the details of the other Blade’s missions, it was surprising to hear Ulaz talk about it. “Did you meet Shiro before?”

“Perhaps. I had many patients.”

“Perhaps? He sounded pretty memorable when he was answering all those questions.”

“I said perhaps.” Ulaz spoke with finality. Something didn’t sit right with Keith. “Does his hand need to be sutured?”

“No, the cuts looked shallow enough, I cleaned out the glass and bandaged it.” Keith thought back to seeing the bloody shards of mirror. He briefly thought Shiro would attack him, but the man didn’t even seem to know he was there, lost to his own anguish. “How long will the sedative last?”

“At least six vargas. Although in his state of exhaustion I expect him to be asleep for much longer.”

Keith looked at the door as if he could see Shiro through it, he did promise he’d be there while the human slept. He felt guilty being away, even just to assure Ulaz that nothing was wrong. He also had the outpost’s duties to attend to. “Is there any way we can make this go faster. He … I think he really needs this.”

Ulaz hummed in thought. “I need to resize and reproportion the arm, and then I need to remodel the eye to match his human one. But if you like, you can start fabricating the parts to his leg.” He gave Keith the chip containing the blueprints.

Once it had data, the fabricator did most of the work, Keith just had to make sure that there were no errors in the process and that everything was accounted for when it was all done. The process could take vargas, but hopefully Ulaz would be able to relieve Keith by the time Shiro woke up. The way he saw it, if Shiro was guaranteed to be out for awhile, it would be better to help give him back his body.

As the fabricator did its job, Keith brought up another screen in order to monitor communications passing through the outpost. This was his least favorite kind of work, usually it was too boring for Keith to pay enough attention to do it properly. Kolivan made an obvious effort to not put him on these missions, but if he was going to stay with Shiro, he had to continue to make himself useful. It was still irredeemably boring.

The fabricator completed its job without any mishaps, and after some more time in assembly, the leg would be ready for testing. Ulaz had long ago finished modifying the data for the arm and eye, but with only one fabricator in the whole outpost it would be a while before they were anywhere near done.

Shiro continued to sleep past the six vargas mark. The longer he slept the more restless Keith got, checking in on him every few doboshes. During a lull, Keith dug up some spare clothes and stashed them in the closet, he also readied food rations for whenever Shiro woke up.

Ulaz was right that Shiro would be out for a while, he was just one varga shy of sleeping for a quintant. He woke up dazed, the sedative having not set with him well. He looked surprised to be on the outpost, as if he didn’t remember how he got there.

“Welcome back,” Keith greeted, startling Shiro. “You really must have been tired, you’ve been out for nearly a full quintant.”

Recognition passed over Shiro’s face once he saw Keith, and Keith relaxed slightly. Maybe he just didn’t believe he could escape the Empire outside of his dreams.

“I still don’t know how long that is,” Shiro stated flatly.

Keith hummed. “I don’t know how humans keep time, so I don’t know how to rephrase it. "How is your hand?"

Shiro seemed almost confused at the question, and finding his hand in bandages only worsened his confusion. He didn't remember anything he did in the bathroom. "Kind of sore?"

"Do you wan anything for the pain?" But Shiro shook his head.  "Are you hungry? I have some food prepared in the kitchen.”

Shiro was shook his head again. “Thanks, but I really don’t think I could eat.”

“You still need to get something in you, your tests say you’re malnourished.”

A distressed look passed over Shiro’s face. “Later. Maybe. After I have time to … adjust.”

“That’s fair. But maybe you can just take some vitamins in the meantime?” Keith pointed to the small cup of tablets on the bedside table.

Still looking distressed, Shiro answered, “Yeah, sure. In a bit. I just …” He stood up and walked out of the room without finishing. Keith saw him disappear into the bathroom when he went to follow.

There was no repeat of last time, Shiro made sure the mirror was thoroughly shattered before Keith was able to haul him back to his room, prompting Keith to remove every other mirror he could find. Shiro was at the showers, uselessly tapping at the panel.

“Do you need help?” Keith offered.

“No, I can figure it out.” But Shiro continued to make no progress.

“Here, just let me.” Keith stepped forward, pressing the appropriate buttons to start the water. Shiro stood off to the side, rubbing the back of his neck. The silence was tense, and Keith couldn’t think of what to say next, to soothe whatever was causing this agitation. Instead he murmured, “Just let me know if you need anything else,” and left Shiro to his business.

Keith resumed his work more halfheartedly than usual, instead he thought of Shiro. If he had to put it in words, he seemed more guarded than before. It made sense, but was still worrying.

The next time Keith went to check on Shiro, only a half a varga later, he was fully dressed in his new clothes, seated on the bed. He was slouched over, staring blankly at the floor. Keith could tell by the tight set of his shoulders that Shiro was very aware of his presence.

“How’re you feeling?”

Shiro only shrugged.

“You think you want to try eating now?” Maybe he was being pushy, but his worry left little room for tact.

“No, not yet,” Shiro answered, heaving a sigh.

“You didn’t take those vitamins yet.”

The statement was met with a few ticks of silence. “Guess not.”

This was more than just guarded, Shiro was trying to completely shut himself off. “We’re not going to hurt you,” Keith said softly. When his statement went unanswered, he gently asked, “Why don’t you trust us?”

Keith didn’t expect an answer, but Shiro deflated, sagged in on himself looking utterly defeated. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want to help you,” Keith answered honestly and without missing a beat. Hesitantly, Keith walked further into the room, stopping at Shiro’s side. He rested his hand on Shiro’s shoulder and a tired grey eye looked up at him. “I want you to feel better, and I want to keep you safe. I … don’t know how to get you home, but maybe I can find someone who can. Shiro … you don’t have to keep fighting, you can rest and take care of yourself. You can have some peace now. And I’d really like to help you find it if you’ll let me.”

Shiro held his gaze for a few ticks before his gaze slid back to the floor. “I don’t know if I know how to do that.”

“And I’ll help with that too. I … whatever you think of Galra, we’re not like them. But if you can’t trust other Galra, maybe you can just trust me? From one human to another?” Was it fair to use his humanity as a bargaining chip to get Shiro to take some vitamins? Not really, no, but he’d try anything for some progress. He brought the tiny cup closer, offering it to Shiro. “I promise, They’re not going to do anything weird.”

After glaring at the cup for a few ticks, Shiro finally grabbed the cup. “I’m going to hold you to that.” He brought the cup to his mouth and tipped it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are alien mirrors made out of glass? I don't honestly know, I am not an alien.
> 
> Next chapter comes tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro reclaims his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Rebirth

Even through the haze of painkillers Shiro was in agony, not just his stumps but his entire body. Ulaz said it would be expected after this kind of surgery, physical trauma was painful no matter what the circumstances. His limbs felt so heavy he couldn’t move them, even turning his head was impossible.

“Good to have you back.”

Keith shifted into Shiro’s vision, a small smile on his face.

“Glad to see you’re at least kind of awake.”

“Is it over?” Shiro mumbled, he wasn’t even sure if Keith could understand him.

“Yeah, it’s over.”

“I feel terrible.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Keith answered and Shiro wasn’t sure if he sounded sympathetic or teasing. “You’ll feel better soon enough.”

Shiro’s head started to clear. “Am I okay?”

Keith smiled at him softly, instilling him with peace. “Yeah, you’re okay.”

After hesitating for a moment, Shiro asked, “What about my hand?”

“Why don’t you take a look?”

“I can’t move.”

The way in which Keith moved his arm was so gentle that Shiro didn’t even feel it. Then in his sight was his new hand. It was still a harsh-looking metal thing, but now it matched his human hand in shape, and it would in movement as well once he healed more. Shiro started getting choked up when it fully hit him, he was de-weaponized. Every artificial part was exactly what it was, his hand was a hand, his leg a leg, his eye an eye, and whatever else he had was simply that. It was a surreal peace of mind. “I almost can’t believe it.”

“Believe it, because this is your arm now. And it’s only yours. All of you is.”

As much pain as Shiro was in, it felt so good to hear that. “All mine.”

“If you’re up for it, I can tell you everything that Ulaz did for the surgery.”

Shiro had already decided his answer before the procedure. “I don’t need to know, not right now.” Not today, but he hoped that one day in the future he’ll be able to accept the condition of his body.

It was strange, having hope again, but he started feeling it in just the last day, and it was through no small effort of Keith’s that he felt what little he did. They were small things, that his next meal would be satisfying, that he would have another opportunity to bathe, that he could use a bathroom again. It really put into perspective how bad the last few years were and it was a constant weight on his mind.

“Sorry we don’t have any pods, it would make the healing process a lot faster, and you could just sleep through it.”

“I don’t know what pods are, so I don’t feel like I’m missing much.”

Keith smiled. “We’ll just have to keep you on painkillers until you heal some more. It’ll be at least two movements.”

“Where are we going?”

It was the first time Shiro heard Keith laugh, and it was such joyful sound, it made his heart feel lighter. “It’s a measure of time!”

Shiro simply basked in soft atmosphere, almost disbelieving that he somehow made it to this point in time. “Thanks.” Keith looked at him questioningly, so he elaborated. “For taking me with you.”

Blinking slowly, a smile on his face, Keith answered, “Thanks for trusting me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is so short, but thankfully it's my shortest one and the next one will be longer to make up for it. That will come Wednesday.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith takes Shiro to the Blade of Marmora headquarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If all of these prompts are out of order, why do I have an update schedule and not just post everything already? Believe it or not I actually have exactly three chapters that match the upload day. Four if you include today, which is a free day.

In the time it took him to heal, Keith and Ulaz had gotten Shiro up to speed on what was actually going on. Zarkon, the Galra Empire, their ceaseless expansion, but also the resistance of the Blade of Marmora and a budding coalition of defected planets. It was war, endless and bloody, and Shiro found himself caught in it with no easy way out. It was a lot to take in, but Shiro had the time to do that now.

Truthfully, Shiro was tired. He couldn’t remember not feeling so heavy all the time. In the arena, there were so many times he was ready to give up, what was the point of surviving if he was just going to be thrown back to repeat it all again and again with no way out. But he _did_ survive long enough to escape, so what did that mean for fighting now? He would have to fight, that or become dead weight until he could go back to Earth, and even then Earth wasn’t safe from the Empire.

Keith assured him he didn’t have to decide right away, and that no matter what Shiro did end up deciding that he’d make it work.

For the time being, he stayed in bed and healed.

It was a while before he could move his new limbs, but when Shiro was finally able to move his new fingers on command he couldn’t stop himself from tearing up. He didn’t even know how long he spent staring as he wiggled his own fingers, at least Keith indulged him in saying, “Look at them Keith, I can move them and everything,” every few minutes.

Once he had the strength to hold things, Shiro asked for a mirror. It was an understatement to say he reacted poorly the last time he saw his reflection, but he needed it. Keith was understandably hesitant, but fetched one for him anyway. Shiro braced himself, he ignored his hair and his scars and looked directly into his eyes. And they were there, both of them, matching and completely what he hoped he’d see. Human, slate grey, and he could see through them perfectly. If he didn’t see his reflection that one time, he’d never know that one of them was entirely synthetic. Maybe one day he could forget and write off that terrible image as a dream.

It was even longer before he could walk, but when he did he marveled at how light his new leg was. Taking a step didn’t hurt his hip or back, walking was all around easier. A strange feature that Ulaz added was individual toes. It wasn’t something he asked for and not something his previous prosthetic had, but Ulaz went through the effort of mimicking human toes for him, and Shiro was touched. He never expected to get choked up over the small marvel of having toes.

Thanks to the advanced alien medicine, Shiro was up and moving around just fine in a matter of two weeks, or movements as Keith called them.

Since his escape, Keith has been adamant about not making Shiro do anything he didn’t want to, but with his good health came the unavoidable.  Keith had to take him to the Blade of Marmora’s headquarters to meet their leader. Neither Keith or Ulaz said so, but Shiro knew that this is where his future would be decided, and Shiro wasn’t sure if he was ready.

They bid Ulaz goodbye, Shiro thanking Ulaz yet again for his help. Even if Shiro still wasn’t sure how to feel about the Blades as a whole, Ulaz had been nothing but good to him, and he was grateful for it.

But the idea of meeting the leader, Kolivan as he was called, was daunting. Shiro got the impression of him as a strict, unyielding man, one who hadn’t taken kindly to his presence. Even Keith looked uneasy about their meeting. He tried to convince him that Kolivan wouldn’t do anything bad, but Shiro was on edge the entire flight there.

The man himself was there to greet them when they landed. Kolivan had an imposing figure, large in body with a severe face. If there was one benefit from his time in the arena, it was that Shiro knew how to hide when he was intimidated. If looks could kill, Shiro would have died the moment he stepped out of the ship.

Kolivan took his time eyeing Shiro, sizing him up, assessing him, and Shiro tried his best to not squirm under his harsh gaze. “We meet at last.” His voice was modulated with an almost menacing vibration.

“Thank you for having me.” Shiro wasn’t sure what the proper way to greet a Galra was, but expressing his gratitude couldn’t be a bad move.

Kolivan’s eyes narrowed at his words.

Perhaps maybe it actually was.

“There I much I need to discuss with you.” He waved Keith and Shiro to follow. “Ulaz has already done the physical examination, but I have queries of my own.”

This base was much larger than the outpost, and it was full of Galra, all of which Shiro doubted would hesitate to kill him if given the order. Shiro was even more on edge than before and he felt the impulse of his fight or flight reflex. His tension only slacked when Keith reached out for him. It was just a hand resting lightly against his shoulder, but it was grounding. He looked down at Keith, but he remained looking ahead, only giving his shoulder a soft, reassuring squeeze. Even if he was surrounded by potential enemies, Shiro liked to think that Keith was his ally.

They arrived in a conference room similar to the one back at the outpost. The interrogation was also similar. However the questions were a lot more specific, what the gladiator fights were like, how it felt to fight them, the nature of the experiments done to him. There was a strange fixation on something that happened a year ago, or as Shiro now knew it, a deca-phoeb.

“Do you remember anything significant that happened one deca-phoeb ago?”

“Not particularly … everything just kind of blended together, there wasn’t really any way to keep track of the time.”

“Any experiments in that time? Or something unusual?”

Shiro gave it an honest thought, but the whole thing was such a nightmare that everything was unusual. “I really can’t think of anything that stood out.”

“Samples? Were you off fights for a while? Were you ever kept outside your cell for an extended period?”

“Only if there was some kind of experiment going on, but I don’t know what they did.”

“Did you see anything strange, something that couldn’t be explained? Perhaps you wrote it off as a hallucination?”

“All if it was strange.”

It went on like that for ages, almost like Kolivan was trying to get him to confess to something, but Shiro didn’t have the answer he was looking for.

By the time the interrogation winded down, Shiro felt raw, like the smallest thing could push him over the edge. He needed something to calm down, but he didn’t know what.

Kolivan read through the transcript, looking for something in Shiro’s words. Finally he addressed Keith. “What about you, Keith. Do you have anything to add?”

Keith looked almost startled. “Like what?”

“You have spent time with Shiro, do you think he is a threat to us?”

“Absolutely not.” Keith answered immediately and with conviction.

Kolivan nodded. “Very well. For the time being, until proven otherwise, you will not be regarded as an enemy.”

The phrasing wasn’t exactly comforting, but Shiro was relieved all the same.

“Keith, you will be responsible for him as you have been, but you are to assume your regular duties. You have a mission briefing and then you’re heading out once the solar flares clear.”

“Wait, if Shiro’s going on missions with me, shouldn’t he get some kind of training? The Trials—”

“Shiro will not be subjected to the trials.”

“Why not?”

“The Trials are for initiates, Shiro is not.”

“But-”

“If you choose to take him on missions, that is your prerogative, but no Trials will be held.” Keith looked like he was going to interrupt, but Kolivan raised his hand to silence him. “I have my reasons, Keith. In the meantime, you have a mission to prepare for.” Kolivan left the room.

There was a beat of silence before Keith let out a frustrated sound.

“I don’t know, I thought that went pretty well,” Shiro answered honestly.

“‘Pretty well?’ He’s treating you like you’re still a prisoner.”

“I mean, not really. It could be worse. And no one really has much reason to trust me. I’m not even sure I trust me right now.”

Everything about Keith softened at that. “Shiro…” he whispered softly.

Shiro just shrugged. “A lot’s happened to me, and it’s not pretty.” He drummed his fingers against the table in thought. “Right now I’m not that okay, and I don’t know what will make me even more not okay and I’ll just snap. You’ve already seen it happen.”

Keith pulled over Kolivan’s chair to sit next to Shiro, this interrogation ending exactly as the last. “You don’t have to come on missions with me. We can work something out. We can…”

Shiro was already shaking his head. “I don’t mind going on missions with you. I’d like to help how I can. And honestly, fighting makes the most sense to me right now. I don’t think I could take it easy if I tried.”

“Are you sure?” Keith looked skeptical, he rested his hand on Shiro’s wrist.

“Yeah it’s fine. You might not know it, but I do have some combat experience,” Shiro said playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, was a real champion back in the day.” Keith smiled at him, and he hoped he was smiling back. “C’mon, we have a mission briefing to get to.”

Shiro wasn’t sure how it happened, but they left the conference room hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally this chapter was going to use the prompt "training" but when I actually wrote it, not training actually happened. It did you the word "training" exactly once, but I didn't think that was enough to make it count.
> 
> Next chapter goes up tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Keith spend some time getting to know each other better, and it just might be love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Physical Touch

There was a strange comfort in the missions they went on. Flighting was something Shiro knew how to do day in and day out, and even if it wasn’t always actual combat (it usually wasn’t) having a defined objective to work towards was comforting. Having a partner made it even easier on him. Keith was reliable and they worked well together nearly right from the start with little incident. He was also just really comfortable to be around. Their conversations flowed easily, bonding over their shared love of flying, Keith even taught Shiro the controls to his ship. Keith was also very interested in hearing about earth, the home planet that he’s never been to. 

“When this is all over, I’ll take you there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course.”

The way Keith’s face lit up was so stunning that Shiro was able to forget that the war might not end in their lifetime.

Perhaps the comfort had nothing to do with the missions and had everything to do with the man he went with them on. Since he was captured, Shiro didn’t think he’d be able to feel these kinds of emotions, but Keith was bringing them out of him one by one. Hope, comfort, happiness, even something that felt a lot like love. It was almost too surprising to accept, but Shiro definitely felt something for the man.

“Can I touch you?”

Sometimes it felt like his feelings were returned.

They were spending the night on a newly liberated planet before they took off to their next assignment. Instead of sleeping in their ship as usual, they decided to splurge and rent a room in an alien hotel. It was in that room that Shiro found himself frozen in the middle of taking off his stealth suit.

He looked over at Keith, who was already dressed down and and sitting on his bed, face more fuchsia than purple.

“Wh-”

“I mean!” Keith paused, having realized he was shouting. “I’ve never seen another human before. It’s just … I’m curious.” He was having trouble looking Shiro in the eye.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. That’s fine.” As odd as the question was, Shiro didn’t think there was much he could refuse Keith. Quickly, he finished changing and sat on the bed with Keith.

Keith did nothing.

“Change your mind?”

“No!” Perhaps a bit too forcefully, Keith shoved his hand in Shiro’s face, causing Shiro to laugh. The sound was lost on Keith who now looked at Shiro curiously, now gripping his face gently. “You’re bald.”

“I guess?” It was certainly odd phrasing. “Most humans are.”

“They are?”

“Yeah… aren’t you?” Keith may have been purple like his Galra kin, but he certainly wasn’t furry like them.

“No.” Explaining no further, Keith continued to stroke his face, feeling his cheeks and jaw, sliding up his nose and over his scar. Keith spent a lot of time feeling his eyebrows, the one part of Shiro’s face that wasn’t “bald.”

“You know, some humans actually grow hair on their face.”

“How? Where?”

Shiro took hold of Keith hands and moved them to trace over his jaw, where his beard would grow.

“Are you not one of these humans then?”

“No, I am. But I choose to shave it.”

“Why would you?”

“Some humans prefer it like this.”

Keith looked at him as if he’d said something very odd, and perhaps to a Galra he really did, but soon enough he resumed his exploration, moving his hands up to play with his ears. He lightly traced the curved shell, where his own ear would have tapered into a point, and he flicked at the lobe when he got to it, poking at the soft flesh. “I’m really glad I didn’t get human ears,” he mumbles.

“Really? Are they that bad?”

“They’re super weird.” Keith leaned back to look into Shiro’s eyes, staring so deeply that Shiro started to feel self conscious. He didn’t break eye contact.

“Do all humans have eyes like this?”

“Like what?”

“You have round pupils.”

“Yeah, that’s normal.”

“And the outsides are white.”

“Your’s are, too.”

“What about the color?”

“No, humans can have a lot of different colored eyes.”

“Like what?”

“Brown is the most common. Blue. Green. It’s rare, but some even have purple.”

“Like Galra?”

“Yeah, just like that.”

While Keith was still staring, Shiro moved his own hands up to cup Keith’s face. Keith almost looked startled but Shiro let out a laugh.

“You really are fuzzy!”

It was fine, almost reminiscent of a peach, and it was so soft it felt like velvet. He stroked his cheeks, marveling in the softness of both Keith’s fur and his face. Then he started  _ purring _ . Just like a cat. It was so cute that Shiro could feel his own heart melt. When the fuchsia color started to creep back into his face, Shiro realized that he was seeing Keith’s blushing skin through his fur. He felt his own face heat as a contentedness settled in him.

Shiro finally released Keith from essentially being petted like a kitten. “So I’m bald, have weird ears, and I have round pupils. What do you think of humans?”

Keith took the time to think it over for a moment. “I like it.”

“I like it too.”

Keith looked up at him, a confused expression on his face. “Humans? Or… Galra?”

“I like you.”

Keith went from fuchsia to magenta. “You do?”

Shiro smiled an easy grin. He felt warm and happy. “Yeah, I like you.”

“I like you too…”

Heart feeling light, Shiro leaned down to kiss Keith, just a small peck on the lips. It was soft and sweet, and it left Keith confused.

“What was that?”

“A kiss. It’s how humans show they like each other.”

“Oh.” Keith seemed to think it over for a moment before experimenting with a kiss of his own. “I like it,” he decided. Instead of giving Shiro a chance to answer or going for a third kiss, he rested their foreheads together. Shiro found himself staring directly into violet eyes, so focused on him that it halted any reply he had. Elongated pupils peered through swirling nebulas looking directly into him. The intimacy was striking and left Shiro in awe. “This is how Galra do it,” Keith said, speaking softly.

“I like it.”

What Shiro felt was a lot like love, and maybe one day it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Galra are purple fuzzy space cats and no one can take that away from me.
> 
> Next chapter comes out tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something happened one deca-phoeb before Shiro's escape, he and Keith find out what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Clones

Keith was well aware that Kolivan didn’t give him any missions that were considered too dangerous. No mission was without risk, but there were some with better escape options, closer to available backup, and he was never in enemy territory for an extended period of time. It was hard to justify getting angry at the other Blades for trying to keep him safe, especially when most of them saw him as a son - they all helped raise him alongside his mother - but Keith was tired of being coddled. He craved larger missions, ones where he could make a real impact. “Every mission has impact,” Kolivan would answer every time the topic was brought up.

When his and Shiro’s path accidentally crossed that of the front lines, where Voltron was fighting no less, Keith wasn’t exactly able to hide how excited he was. Shiro tried to remind him that this wasn’t something he should be so giddy about, this was war after all and they were unprepared with no objective. The man was clearly worried, so Keith tried to temper his enthusiasm a little.

Kolivan gave then strict orders to get out of the firefight and into safety, but the situation changed constantly, more effort was put into not blowing up than fleeing or fighting. Keith’s enthusiasm finally waned when he realized how under prepared they were to be caught in a battle of this scale. Thoughtlessly diving into battles was not what Blades were trained for.

The relief between him and Shiro was palpable when the battle finally ended in their favor. Kolivan called them to the Castle of Lions instead of returning to HQ, probably to make sure Keith was okay with his own eyes after getting caught up in such a mess. Honestly Keith was just embarrassed that he floundered so much in his first major battle. Sure, they had no plan or objective from the start and it was an accident that they even ended up there in the first place, but he should have been able to do better. Maybe Kolivan would take him off missions altogether.

“He’s just worried about you,” Shiro tried to assure him as they entered the Castle of Lions, meeting up with a couple more Blades to escort them inside. “It was a hairy situation out there. Hell if I wasn’t walking right next to you I’d demand to see you myself just to make sure you’re okay.”

The only response Keith could muster was a noncommittal grunt. Shiro simply placed a hand on his shoulder and Keith could feel his smile in the gesture. In private, Shiro would have done more, pulled him in close for a hug, whispered sweet things in his ear, kissed him softly… But they were walking through the Castle of Lions with an audience no less. Keith would just have to wait until they were alone for more comfort.

When they entered what looked like a control room, Kolivan was on him in an instant. He forced Keith’s mask to dematerialize and turned his face this way and that, checking him over. “Did you sustain any injuries? Was there any thrashing in the cockpit? Do you feel pain anywhere?” He fussed quietly as to not alert outsiders.

“I’m fine!” Keith was getting annoyed, but he didn’t have the heart to shove Kolivan away when he worried for him. “Nothing happened, we were safe the whole time.”

Kolivan scrutinized him for a moment more, then nodded in satisfaction, likely putting off further examination until they were not meeting with their Coalition allies. Even though Shiro still wore his own mask, Keith could feel the look he was giving him, a goofy grin that was entirely too soft. He told Keith once that he liked seeing that Keith was well taken care of by his family. As his mask rematerialized, he shot Shiro a biteless glare.

Clearing his throat, Kolvan addressed the room. “This the one we spoke of.” He gestured to Keith. They were talking about him? What could they even be saying?

The princess stepped forward. Even though he heard the rumors, it was still surprising to see a living Altean. She looked weary of him and and Keith felt himself become uneasy, something was wrong.

“Greetings. I am Princess Allura.” Allura paused, collecting herself, her weariness disappearing into a neutral mask. “I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you but this is … such an unusual situation. I’m really not sure how to proceed. Perhaps it would be better to just get to the point. Shiro, would you come here please?”

Shiro?

Were they referring to Shiro this whole time? They were standing right next to each other.

Shiro perked up but she wasn’t addressing him. Instead a man in armor working at one of the control panels left his work to join them. Keith felt dizzy. It had to be a coincidence, right?

Keith was familiar with all of one human, but all humans couldn’t look exactly the same. Right? But he had the same scar, the same eyes, his height, his build his jaw his lips, all the same. The only difference was the hair, Shiro’s hair was all white, but this man’s hair was mostly black.

And his  _ name _ was Shiro.

Shiro already told Keith that “Shiro” was a nickname, that his real name was Takashi. But how many humans called themselves Shiro?

And then he spoke.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met before.”

It felt like all the air was punched out of Keith’s lungs.  _ It was the same voice _ . 

“ _ What is this, Kolivan? _ ” Keith growled, interrupting the man. 

Kolivan met his glare with and infuriatingly blank face. “Despite our victory, we believe out battle plans were leaked to the Empire.”

“And you think  _ Shiro _ did it?”

The man, not-Shiro, realized that this wasn’t a typical meeting of allies. He looked almost panicked as he asked, “Allura, what’s going on?”

“We think  one of them did.”

“Why is there more than one of them!” Keith was shouting now, attracting the attention of the others in the room. He didn’t care, they could listen all they want.

“Keith, calm down,” Shiro said quietly, voice shaking and gripping Keith’s arm. His Shiro. The right one.

The full gravity of the situation settled around the onlookers at the identical voice. Even Keith felt it hit him a little more.

There were two Shiros.

One was an imposter.

And he were leaking information.

“We believe that one is a product of Galra engineering. You have both spoken of experimentation during captivity. One just happened to escape earlier than the other,” Allura answered. “We were not going to take any action if there were no threat, but unfortunately at this time that doesn’t seem to be the case."

“Allura and I have already had correspondence on this matter in the past. From this point on, the two Shiros will remain together and if either is witnessed to be acting aligned with the Empire, he will be executed.”

“You can’t be serious.” Keith couldn’t believe what was happening. How could he be involved in something like this and not know? All this time, he’s been essentially guarding Shiro. The Blades never stopped seeing Shiro as an enemy. He felt like he’d been tricked. 

Shiro, his Shiro, remained frozen, it didn’t even look like he was breathing. His mask stayed on and Keith got the distinct impression he was using it as a barrier between himself and the rest of them. Was that a good sign or a bad sign?

“How long have you known about this?” Keith felt so angry that he was shaking, his nails biting into his palms as he clenched his fists. Why didn’t Kolivan tell him?

“Ulaz recognized him.”

“So right from the start?”

When Keith got no answer, he turned and left the room without a word. He didn’t care where the castle halls took him, he just wanted to get away from them all, his rage driving him. Kolivan lied to him. Not just him, but Ulaz, too. How many others knew? And why didn't Keith know?

Only after he was thoroughly lost did he realize he left Shiro behind. His steps faltered at the thought of Shiro alone in a room with no one who trusted him and his double.

Quiznak.

As upset as he was, he wasn’t mad at Shiro. Shiro wasn’t the one keeping things from him, not as far as Keith knew anyway. No, he couldn’t think like that. Shiro wasn’t an enemy. Keith has spent phoebs alone with him and not once did he do anything suspicious. Hell they didn’t even know about the battle until they were caught in it, and even then their orders were just to survive.

But if the other Shiro was the imposter, the implications of an enemy piloting Voltron were terrifying. Keith supposed he understood why no one wanted to definitively point fingers, but there was no way he was going to let them place the blame on  _ his _ Shiro just because it was the most convenient option.

When he found Shiro, his Shiro, he was with Kolivan and another Blade, likely not allowed to be alone anymore. His mask was gone, likely ordered away, revealing a carefully blank expression. His arms were crossed and he was slouched more than Keith was used to seeing. Keith was filled with deep concern, he shouldn’t have run off like that.

Kolivan scolded Keith for his behavior, but Keith felt no remorse and defended his actions. He was  _ upset _ and he was allowed to feel as such. But he needed to get Shiro alone, he could feel the man falling apart.

Finally they were being escorted to their rooms by one of the paladins. It was the yellow one, Keith didn’t care to learn their names just yet. He seemed friendly enough but his discomfort was poorly concealed. 

When they got to the room, Keith guided Shiro inside and close the door behind him, interrupting whatever the paladin was explaining. Truthfully, Keith hadn’t listened to anything that’s been said to him.

Keith sat Shiro on the bed and he guided Shiro’s head to rest on his shoulder. The tension in Shiro finally broke, his shoulders sagged and he let out a breath that sound more like a sob as he trembled in Keith’s arms.

“I know,” was all Keith could say. He wanted to tell Shiro that it was okay. But it wasn’t. This was messed up beyond what Keith could say in words. If they were trying to provoke a reaction from one of the Shiros, it certainly worked, but in no one’s favor. “You’ll get through this.”

“Will I?” Shiro croaked out.

“You will.”

“Kolivan said they’ll execute me.”

“He said they’ll execute the threat. You are  _ not _ a threat.”

“You don’t know that.”

Keith tilted Shiro’s face up, immediately resting their foreheads together. Looking deeply into tearful eyes that made his heart twist. Keith remembered that one of them wasn’t real, but a replica of what once was. They were so exact that Keith no longer remembered which was natural and which was synthetic. He tried not to dwell on the irony. “Shiro. Takashi. I know you’re not. You’re good.”

A fresh tear rolled down his cheek as he whispered, “Am I even real?”

“Of course you’re real,” Keith snapped too harshly, causing Shiro to flinch. Reigning in his emotions, Keith soothingly stroked Shiro’s cheek in apology. “I’m holding your right now, I couldn’t do that if you weren’t real.” He leaned in and kissed away Shiro’s tears. “I couldn’t kiss you if you weren’t real.” Next he kissed him on the lips, soft and slow, feeling a little proud of Shiro’s slight reaction. “Clone or not, you’re the Shiro that matters to me. You’re  _ my _ Shiro, and the only one I care about.”

Shiro closed his eyes as rested against Keith’s shoulder again, wrapping his arms around Keith and pulling him in close. Keith felt himself relax, not even aware of the tension he was holding. At least Shiro was being receptive to him.

“I love you, Takashi.”

Shiro whimpered into Keith’s neck as Keith reveled in the muffled, “I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I started watching Voltron, because of clone theory (when it was still a theory) I actually thought that Shiro was always a clone right from the start and he just kept getting replaced by other clones throughout the series. And when I saw jokes that Shiro was six, I did not think of Leap Day at all and instead thought Shiro was just a clone that was six years old. Of course I was wrong, but this whole fic was based around that idea.
> 
> But which one here is the clone??
> 
> I was stuck writing this chapter for weeks, literal weeks. This here is entirely the reason I spent three months writing this fic. I don't even know why it took so long. I had other projects planned to do for Sheith Month as well, but I just just ended up skipping them. If you like my writing enough for those skipped projects, I'll still get to them, just later.
> 
> Anyway, next chapter goes up tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is shaken at the possibility of being a clone, but Keith is there to keep him together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Nightmares

The arena reeked with the stench of blood and corpses, no one had cleared out the bodies yet. He couldn’t tell how long he’d been there, fights blended together into continuous bloodshed. At least they weren’t other prisoners, fights with prisoners were the worst.

There was a lull, he knew there was another combatant to come out, but he couldn’t even remember his last fight anymore. How many of these bodies were left here from him?

But then they sent out the next combatant. The prisoner’ garb was immediately recognizable, he must have jinxed himself.

Except it wasn’t a prisoner. Not exactly.

It was himself.

Cruel eyes with the first model of his arm, he charged at himself. This version of him was eager, gleeful to cause bloodshed.

But he was upgraded, his arm had the next model, his claw, and he was able to defend himself until he was the last one standing.

What was this?

Another one came out, identical to him with his claw, even having his steely eye. He was crueler, and the fight was harder, but he defeated himself all the same.

More came out to fight. Each one with more upgrades than the last, less man and more machine, and each one crueler and stronger. He felt the panic grow more and more strongly with each version of himself. He no longer knew how he was surviving these fights. Some he didn’t even win, the challenger would simply stop and leave, leaving the arena for the next one to take his place.

Covered in sweat and blood, ready to collapse, he looked up at the next one. The final one. There was no man left. He, it, was all metal. Is this what they want to turn him into? Or have they already succeeded.

It aimed it’s attack at him.

Shiro woke up, gasping and choking on his own breath. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that was a dream, and that he was awake now, but he couldn’t stop the blind panic. He couldn’t tell where he was. Was he still in the prison? Would someone be here any minute now to punish him for causing a disturbance? The thought pushed him further into panic.

He briefly wondered if he’d pass out, then he managed to drag air into his lungs. In. Then out. He found a rhythm and focused on breathing.

Breathing.

Breathing.

The first thing Shiro became aware of was that he was on a bed. He latched onto that awareness, convincing himself that there were no beds in prison. He was in a place with beds.

Then he became aware of the arms, holding him gingerly. They cradled his head and rubbed soothingly at his chest.

He heard the words they were softly saying. Shiro couldn’t repeat back anything they said, but in the moment they were kind, encouraging, grounding.

Finally,

“Keith?” Shiro rasped, his throat raw.

“I’m right here. You’re safe.”

Shiro cracked. Broken sobs tore their way through his chest as he cried in Keith’s arms, gripping his hand.

His emotions were too muddled to figure out what he was crying for. It could be relief that he was okay, or it could be fear of what he could have been. It could be for anything.

Keith continued to hold him, rocking him gently, speaking softly. Shiro didn’t calm down for a while, he couldn’t tell exactly how long but he knew it was a long time. Even if he couldn’t fall back to sleep, he was tiring himself out.

“Sorry for waking you up,” he said weakly.

“It’s okay,” and Keith sounded so honest, like he was glad to wake up for Shiro any time. “Are you feeling better?”

“No.”

“It’s okay,” he repeated. “I got you.”

Shiro gripped the arms that were holding him. “Please don’t leave right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Shiro wondered about the other Shiro, the one who didn’t live in his dreams, the paladin. He probably wasn’t so broken, with dreams throwing him back into hell from meeting his double. The other Shiro probably slept peacefully, undisturbed and having not woken up anybody.

Even when Shiro was ready to fall back to sleep, more from exhaustion than any actual desire to sleep, Keith held him. As Shiro was slipping back into unconsciousness, Keith kissed his forehead sweetly. With a small measure of comfort, Shiro fell back to sleep, hopefully without nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dream sequence was hard and I still don't think I got it right. After so many tries I just had to say "good enough" and leave it alone. But I don't think the specifics of the nightmare were the important part of this chapter, rather it's what came after.
> 
> New chapter tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After battles, Shiro and Keith have a routine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Habits

Staying at the castle wasn’t so bad. Yeah it was awkward at first, it was certainly strange for everyone to interact with two Shiros- the one they knew and the stranger- but soon everyone realized they weren’t Shiro and his clone, but instead they were each their own person, except also oddly the same person.  

Weirder still, Shiro  _ liked _ the other Shiro, it was comforting to share the same experiences with someone, neither had to explain anything because they simply just understood each other. It was a strange relief Shiro never expected from this situation. He was also kind of fun to mess with. While the paladin was a leader and had to display nothing less than complete composure, Shiro was leader of nothing and was free to behave as he always had. Acting casual and having fun would do him good, he thought, it would help differentiate him from the paladin, it would hopefully make him look less threatening, and the other paladins might be less likely to kill him if they liked him. Not that he had anything to hide, but it was good to cover his bases.

On the other hand, Keith kept his walls up. While not entirely hostile, he was always on guard, gauging the other’s intentions with mistrust and never leaving Shiro’s side, and in the beginning it was something he was grateful for while he was still adjusting. His interactions with the castle residents were kept to a minimum, usually keeping strictly professional and rarely socializing. 

No one could deny that Keith was an asset though, or Shiro for that matter. Being raised and trained by the Blade of Marmora gave Keith an entirely different skill set and point of view that the team didn’t readily have, and all the phoebs of fighting with Keith had allowed Shiro to adapt to that style. They were both assets. Whatever the circumstances of the two Shiros, Shiro still wanted to be useful while he could.

Their usefulness, however, ended when it came to PR. Shiro because they didn’t want the problem of the two Shiros to become common knowledge and Keith because no one wanted to talk to someone quite so Galra. So during such times they stayed in the castle to recover from whatever battles they had just come off of. Shiro cherished these times he got to spend alone with Keith, and the time he got to pretend that nothing was wrong.

During these times, Keith would always check over Shiro’s prosthetics. A reflex left over from his time as a gladiator was to use them in battle, but they weren’t weaponized anymore. They weren’t even as durable in order to make them lighter and easier on his body. More often than not he came back to the castle ship with dents and cracks in the casing, sometimes if he was really reckless some of the interior mechanisms actually broke. It wasn’t long until Shiro’s arm actually malfunctioned and needed to be gutted and reassembled with new parts, which was a very unpleasant experience for Shiro. But now after every battle, Keith would take them into their room and check over every piece and fix what he could.

Keith was gentle with his prosthetics. He didn’t flinch at the cold metal like Shiro sometimes did and every few minutes he’d ask if he was feeling okay. Even if it did sometimes hurt, the feeling of someone being so kind to his inhuman parts was so much better.

Shiro had his leg propped up with the casing completely removed. Something had bent in the knee joint that Keith needed to replace. They kept a multitude of spare parts for times like this, since no one could predict what Shiro would break next. Keith wasn’t an engineer before this, not even close, but he learned what he could to help Shiro. In moments like these, Shiro’s affection intensified to the point of becoming overwhelming. 

“What did I do to deserve this?”

Keith immediately stopped what he was doing, expression worried. “Does it hurt? Is there something wrong with the nerves?”

Shiro hadn’t even realized he said that outloud. “No, I’m fine.”

Keith scrutinized Shiro for a few more ticks before resuming his work. “So what do you deserve then? Or I guess don’t deserve?”

“You.”

This time when Keith looked up he was confused and surprised.

“I never thought I’d escape the Empire. But then you found me. And since then you’ve always been here for me. And I just … I never thought I’d be here like this. And with you.” Shiro felt his face heating up. Keith knew exactly how he felt, but to say so out loud was always difficult for Shiro, it was hard to find the right words. Keith made him feel so much more than he knew how to say. “I just feel so lucky that you’re here.”

Keith looked up at Shiro with an unreadable expression, a blush dusting his cheeks rosy. He set down the tools and slowly stood up, all the while keeping his eyes on Shiro. Gently, he pressed his lips to Shiro’s forehead and Shiro wrapped his arms around Keith, pulling him into his lap. Shiro tilted Keith’s face down and softly kissed his lips. “I really love you, Keith.”

“I really love you, too,” Keith answered, smiling against his lips. He slid his hands up Shiro’s chest, over his shoulders and past his neck to scratch over Shiro’s closely cropped hair, pulling them into a deeper kiss.

Shiro felt warm as happiness and comfort settled inside him.

All too soon, Keith pulled away. “Let me finish your leg, now. It doesn’t look like Hunk will need to do anything later.”

“Do we have to stop?” Shiro pulled Keith closer.

“The sooner I fix your leg, the sooner we can get back to this.”

“Fine, but I’m holding you to it.”

Just as Keith promised, they did get back to it.

They moved to their bed, whispering their love to each other as they kissed and cuddled.

Shiro loved these moments, where there was only Keith, and there was only him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow. Based on my success or failure, tags may or may not be added. Stay tuned to see if I can actually do the thing.
> 
> (Yes I know I said all of this was already written, but having 14/15 chapters already done is basically all of them, especially since I decided to do this one last minute)
> 
> But yeah, next chapter tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Physical intimacy can be difficult sometimes, but Shiro and Keith are making it work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Ignite

Keith loved when he got to Shiro before he shaved.

Shiro wasn’t lying when he said that humans could grow fur on their face and Keith was simply fascinated by it. As comparatively furless as humans were, they seemed to hate what little fur they had. At most Galra merely trimmed their fur but that was more out of practicality than any ambition to become bald like the humans. Human customs were still strange to Keith no matter how much Shiro explained it to him.

But Shiro’s face fur, his beard as he called it, was the closest he came to feeling like another Galra. It was pricklier, but the texture was familiar enough that he could spend hours sat in Shiro’s lap, smoothing his hands over the man’s jaw, occasionally leaning in for a kiss or to nuzzle, to feel it on his lips and face.

But he’d always shave it. Because it wouldn’t look good. Because he didn’t want to look like a lumberjack (whatever that was). Because it was cleaner shaved. Because it was just as white as the rest of his hair. They both knew that last one was the real reason, it was only brought up once and afterward Keith never asked about keeping it again.

“Keep his up and I’m not going to let you out of bed,” Shiro mumbled against Keith’s cheek.

Keith hummed contently. “Maybe I don’t want to.”

Shiro wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist and pulled him closer, kissing his neck, Keith laughed in delight as the prickly texture ticked his throat. Straddling Shiro’s waist, Keith pinned him down and continued to rub himself over Shiro’s face and neck. Keith loved it when Shiro smelled like him, and when he smelled like Shiro. Maybe Shiro didn’t know what scenting was, but it was an indulgence that Keith couldn’t keep himself from. At least Shiro enjoyed all the contact. Moments like these were something he had to build himself up to, to remember how to touch and be touched affectionately.

So lost was Keith in their mingling scents that Keith didn’t even notice his own arousal until he felt it brush against Shiro’s stomach, and involuntary moan escaping his throat. Immediately Keith pulled back, feeling the heat in his face. It wasn’t anything new, but they talked about this, and Shiro wasn’t ready for it.

“It’s okay-”

“I’m sorry!” Keith quickly apologized.

But Shiro only smiled. “I just said it’s okay.”

“But you can’t-”

Shiro interrupted him with a kiss. “Just because I can’t doesn’t mean you can’t either, Keith.” He stole another kiss before pulling Keith down on top of him. “Do you want some help with that?”

Keith looked away, it felt almost wrong to ask. As much as he indulged in Shiro, this felt like crossing a line. “You don’t have to…”

“What if I want to?”

Looking at Shiro, he seemed so earnest, as if there wasn’t anything he’d rather do. Hesitantly, Keith asked, “Can I?”

Shiro kissed his jaw, down his neck before biting at his shoulder. “What do you want, baby?”

Experimentally, Keith thrust his hips down, dragging himself against Shiro’s stomach. He keened at the delicious friction. Shiro hummed his approval, gripping Keith’s hips to steady him as he took what he needed.

“Takashi…”

Shiro used his metal hand to guide Keith in for a kiss. “I got you.”

The more Shiro touched him, the hotter Keith felt, as if the fire in his belly was consuming him. The cool metal of Shiro’s hand was the only thing that grounded him, the only thing that stopped him from losing himself in sensation and kept him aware of Shiro. Aware of his soft, gentle eyes and the warmth of his smile.

Conversely, his human hand was scorching, branding itself on Keith’s skin as it dragged him further into passion. It held him close, kneaded his ass as he helped Keith chase his pleasure. Keith knew he was babbling, calling for Shiro, telling him how good he felt.

Shiro leaned up, lips brushing against Keith’s ear as he whispered, “I love you, too.”

Keith’s release crashed over him gracelessly, leaving him over sensitive and trembling. Shiro wrapped his arms around him to pull him closer, and Keith felt the stickiness in his pants, matting the fur on his stomach and thighs. Good thing he hadn’t showered yet. “Thank you,” he mumbled into Shiro’s chest.

He felt the vibrations of Shiro’s laugh. “You’re welcome.”

Keith lifted his head just enough to look at Shiro looking down at him, love in his eyes. “Do you…?” He trailed off, not knowing how to finish his question.

But Shiro shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Keith shifted just ever so slightly, and sure enough, Shiro was still soft. “Was this okay?”

Shiro pulled him in for another kiss. “Yeah, it was great. Just because I’m not feeling it yet, doesn’t mean I don’t want you to hold back. I love making you feel good.”

Keith continued to look into Shiro’s eyes, finding nothing that would contradict his words. He buried his face back into Shiro’s chest, holding him tighter. “So long as you’re okay with it.”

Shiro laughed as he held Keith closer. They stayed in bed, Keith draped over Shiro. They only got up when the drying cum pulling at Keith’s fur became too uncomfortable, and even in the shower they stayed together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time even attempting smut. And it was HARD. No pun intended. Major kudos to anyone who has ever written smut ever. I spent all day doing this, but fortunately, at least where I am, the day still matches the prompt. Still not my shortest chapter though! I just shouldn't add in last minute chapters anymore.
> 
> Anyway, please be gentle with me, I tried my best.
> 
> Next chapter comes out Friday. What? That's so long from now! I know, I know. But Friday starts three straight days posting this series' conclusion. And none of them will be as late as this one. I hope you enjoy.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of battle, one of the Shiros is found dead and it is perhaps the worst day of Keith's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Tragedy

It felt like the worst day of Keith’s life.

Worse than the first time his mother left him at HQ to go on a mission.

Worse than his first failed mission where he’d nearly been captured.

Worse than when he found out the Blades were hiding things from him.

Mid-mission, they lost contact with Shiro. Both Shiros. His Shiro.

It was a major battle, spanning across multiple solar systems and sought to deal an irreparable blow to the Empire. The Blades were to work closely with Voltron and the Coalition. But early on, it was clear that the Empire was entirely ready for them. In the aftermath, it wasn’t even clear if this was a win or not. Lots of lives were lost.

At the end of the battle, the Black Lion came limping back to the Castle, and it needed help landing. No one was answering transmissions.

The moment the Lion touched down, Keith was prying his way inside. The inside was a horror show, the consoles splattered with blood. Both Shiros were inside. One was laid still on the floor, chunks were missing from his side, slightly burned, as if a bomb went off next to him. The other was slumped in the pilots seat, it was his blood that was everywhere.

It was a scene that would haunt Keith for the rest of is life.

No one was okay in the Castle. They should be taking stock of the remaining forces, analyzing their position post-battle.

But they’d lost a Shiro. He was pronounced dead before they even took him out of his Lion. The other Shiro, his Shiro, was fighting for his life as he was getting stitched back together.

Keith wasn’t allowed to be there and it was driving him crazy. He needed to see Shiro with his own eyes, he needed to make sure he was okay. He couldn’t deal with someone else coming to the bridge, where they all couldn’t even pretend to do their duties, to tell him that Shiro didn’t make it.

The others were in mourning. They already knew their Shiro was dead. Keith didn’t know how to console them, let alone if he could bring himself to.

Someone finally came with news, a Coalition doctor. They addressed the room. “He’s stable, we put him into a pod to accelerate the healing process.”

Keith was out of the room before they finished, charging down the corridors to the pods. And Shiro was there. He wasn’t the only one using the pods, but he was the only one Keith cared to see.

He looked peaceful, oblivious to the tragedy of war. 

And his Shiro was alive, that was all that mattered and that’s what he had to hold onto.

A private funeral is held for the Black Paladin. Someone decided that they shouldn’t make his death public knowledge, but it allowed his friends to mourn his passing. Keith went to pay his respects even if a small, dark part of himself believed that his made his the real Shiro just by virtue of survival.

It took a long time for his Shiro to wake up. Long enough for the war to push the paladins back into action, sans their leader. Kolivan blessedly did not assign Keith to any new missions, he only called to ask how Shiro was doing, and how Keith was doing.

Once Shiro finally came out of the pod he was dazed and Keith wouldn’t stop holding him. He knew that the others had questions for him, but his Shiro was okay, and he spent too long worrying that he’d never get to hold him again. Shiro held him just as fiercely, calling him sweet names and giving him ‘I love you’s. Keith was ready to say they should forget the war and run away together, he never wanted to see Shiro hurt again.

The princess finally got to ask her questions, namely, what happened to the other Shiro.

“We lost contact with both of you not long after you met up. Who attacked you?”

“Is Shiro okay? I know he was in bad shape but he…” He trailed off as Allura shook her head, his face fell. “No… But he … I …”

Keith never considered how crushed Shiro would be that his clone died. The idea seemed disorienting, but the Shiros were only ever on good terms, and it showed in the surviving Shiro’s reaction. Spectators be damned, Keith gathered Shiro in his arms and held him close.

“Whatever happened, it killed him instantly,” Allura answered solemnly.

“I’m sorry. I thought — I thought I could...” He never finished.

“Shiro, you need to tell us what happened.”

Shiro composed himself enough to answer. “It was one of those Druids. They did something to his arm.” He clutched at his own prosthetic at the memory. “It was like there was a bomb in it,” he answered, retreating in on himself at his own words.

They were left alone when it became clear that Shiro couldn’t say anything more on the subject. Keith stayed where he was, perched at his bedside and combing his fingers through Shiro’s snowy white hair. Sobs occasionally wracked their way through Shiro’s body, spurring Keith to whisper kind words, their rhythm only breaking when Shiro make a choking noise.

“What is it?” Keith asked.

“Do you…”

“Do I what?”

“... Do you think the same could have happened to me?”

Keith looked at Shiro right in the eyes. “Don’t think about that,” he murmured warmly, stroking his cheek. “You’re here, think about that instead.”

Shiro’s eyes told Keith he had more to say, but instead he pulled Keith into his lap, nuzzling against his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back in April I asked my friends, "No context: Do I kill the clone?" Each one individually answered yes. So if you remember that question, this is why.
> 
> Next chapter goes up tomorrow.
> 
> PS I almost forgot to upload this chapter because the season 7 trailer killed me. I'm not okay. I need to lie down. Shiro is confirmed gay though, so that's great.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura has an offer for Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Coping

Shiro didn’t leave his room much. At first he tried, he joined the others for meals, he was present during strategy meetings, he tried to be helpful where he could. But he couldn’t keep at it, not with the way they were looking at him. Their Shiro didn’t survive. Now he was an impostor, a sham, the one who shouldn’t have made it. They didn’t have to remind him, Shiro was very aware of his position. He carried his own corpse back to the castle after all. It seemed useless now but at the time Shiro really thought he could have saved him.

Keith tried his best. He brought Shiro meals and made excuses for his absence and when he had to he dragged Shiro out to battle even though Keith did most of the work. It just made Shiro feel worse, his inability to function.

“Do we have to stay in the Castle anymore?” Shiro asked after nearly two movements. He didn’t leave time for Keith to answer. “We don’t really have a reason to stay anymore. And we probably have regular missions to do…”

Keith sat down next to him on the bed, setting the water pouches on the end table. “Kolivan likes us here, he thinks it’s a good way to coordinate with Voltron.”

“But I can’t do this Kieth. I can’t stay where he was. It hurts. And I can tell they resent me for it.”

“They don’t resent you.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“They don’t. They’re in morning. They lost their leader and their friend. And he was your clone, so it’s strange. No one really knows how to process all of this.”

Shiro wanted to argue, that he was the clone, but Keith would just remind him they have no proof of that. He buried his face in his hands. “I still can’t do this. Not here.”

“Maybe… maybe we can do normal missions again? And just use this as our base? Kolivan likes us here, but maybe we don’t have to be here all the time?” Keith offered, rubbing soothing circles on Shiro’s back.

“I don’t know if I could ever come back once I leave…” Shiro didn’t think he could ever truly face the Paladins again.

“Alright,” Keith agreed. “I’ll tell Kolivan what we’re doing. Even if he doesn’t have a mission, we’ll take off for HQ. … I don’t think we should stay here either, and there’s no reason it has to be us that’s based here.”

“Thank you.”

Kolivan wasn’t exactly pleased, but he was more agreeable than Shiro expected. They received orders to leave and they’ll be sent their next mission briefing mid flight. There wasn’t much they needed to pack into their little two man ship, rations and their spare clothes, and they could leave in a varga.

Their goodbyes with the castles residents felt bitter to Shiro, but he couldn’t tell if it truly was or if that was just how he perceived it.

They were in the hangar, ready to climb into their ship when Allura stopped them.

“Shiro, may I have a moment of your time before you go?”

Shiro hesitated, but responded all the same. “What is it, princess?”

She looked unsure, but continued. “I didn’t know how to approach this earlier but…” Taking a deep breath, she continued. “We can’t find a new Black Paladin. We’ve already tried amongst ourselves, and we’ve even contacted a few of our allies, but the Black Lion won’t accept anyone. And you … You already flew the Black Lion, it has already accepted you. And if you’ll accept it in turn, you could be the new Black Paladin.”

Shiro felt like he lost something then, reaching a new level of emptiness he didn’t know existed. “I can’t,” was all he said.

“But we need you! Voltron needs you.”

“I still can’t.”

“Well why not?”

“Do you really want me? Do they want me?”

He could see in Allura’s eyes that they didn’t. Not now.

“I’m sorry. I hope you find a new paladin soon.”

“Please, just keep the offer in mind.”

Shiro gave her a curt nod, equal in acknowledgement and dismissal. He climbed into the ship next to Keith and then they were off. Keith reached out to lace his fingers with Shiro, giving him something to hold onto as he tried not to fall apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left and it will all be over!
> 
> Final chapter goes up tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro makes his choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's prompt is: Choices
> 
> In which I get heavy handed about the meaning of the title.

Getting back to their old routine was cathartic. Focusing on missions was easy, especially when there was only Keith. Keith, who let him brood when he needed to but never let him do to much, who could get him out of his own head, who was always there to listen and assure him he was okay, who gently held him, who gave him sweet kisses, who made the all fighting worth it.

It was after a particularly grueling fight, already seated in their ship and rocketing away from their former target, that Keith spoke up. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s something. Talk about it.”

Shiro took a moment to gather his thoughts. “I’m replaceable.”

“What? Of course you’re not.”

“No, just listen.” Keith waited for him to continue. “Even when we first met, the first thing that happened was that all my prosthetics were replaced. Which, yeah, that was good.” Shiro looked down at his arm, imagining the claw that used to be there. “But I shouldn’t have needed that in the first place. I’m just … made of replaceable parts.”

“Takashi…”

“And with the other Shiro. He’s gone, and they want me to replace him. … Is that what Shiros are? Replaceable? Is there another Shiro out there to take my place when I die?”

“You’re not going to die!”

Keith spoke with such force and such conviction that Shiro couldn’t find a response.

“You’re not going to  die. And you’re not replaceable. It doesn’t matter if there are more out there. You’re _my_ Shiro and nothing’s going to change that.” Keith’s hands were trembling on the controls, and Shiro covered them with his own, more for comfort than to steady them.

Try as he might, Shrio couldn’t come up with a response, so Keith continued.

“You also need to stop talking like you’re the clone. You don’t know that you’re not the real one.”

“What does it matter, he was fighting this whole time.”

“You were too.”

“But he’s different, everyone knows who he was, Shiro the Black Paladin, the head of Voltron and a leader in the coalition. … I’m not that, I never was. As far as the universe is concerned, I don’t exist and I’m just meant to pick up where he left off.”

“No one said you had to.”

“What?”

“No one is making you pilot the Black Lion. Allura only made the offer. You’re allowed to say no.”

“Am I really?”

“Yes Takashi.” Keith engaged the autopilot and turned to Shiro fully, hugging him as best as he could between the seats. “You’re your own person, you can make your own choices. Us, staying out here, you’re allowed to want that and you’re allowed to have that.” He pulled back and looked into Shiro’s eyes, the purple depths swirling with emotion as Shiro stared back. “You’re here. And you’re real. You can decide  what _you_ want to do.”

Shiro gathered Keith in his arms and pulled him out of his seat and into his lap, holding him close.

“You’re perfect Takashi, and you don’t have to worry about anyone else.”

“Can we stay like this for a while?”

“As long as you want.”

They stayed at an outpost before they got their next assignment, lost in their own world and not even pretending to do any mission prep. It was then, in their shared bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, that Shiro finally spoke up.

“I think I’ve made my choice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I know what I want.”

“Do you want to talk Allura?”

“Maybe later, this isn’t about that.”

“It’s not?”

Shiro pressed his forehead against Keith and he realized that if there was a word to describe this Galran display of affection, he didn’t know it. The thought was exciting to him, that he still had more to learn about Keith and his customs. There was more for them to do and discover and Shiro hoped this feeling would never fade.

“Let’s get married.”

Keith couldn’t hide the surprise that flashed across his face, the cute expression made Shiro’s smile broader. “Married?”

“Yeah, I want to marry you.”

Even in the dark Shiro could tell when Keith blushed magenta. “Yeah. I want to marry you too. Let’s get married.”

Shiro thought he could see tears forming in Keith’s eyes, but he quickly ducked in for a kiss before he could tell for sure. Their kiss was deep but soft, they held and caressed each other tenderly, lost in their own rose-tinted world.

“I love you.”

“Love you, baby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, at the final chapter. I hope you're still with me.
> 
> So does Shiro go back to Team Voltron, or do they find someone else to be the Black Paladin? I'll leave that up to what you think is best.
> 
> There was a lot more I wanted to explore with this story, particularly with other characters, but had to cut in order to make this as sheithy as possible. I might add like, bonus one shots in the future.
> 
> I also have those postponed fics I'm going to get back to. But as for Sheith Month I am finished.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. If anyone is curious about my upcoming projects, you can just ask me about them in the comments or on tumblr.
> 
> Thank you again and I hope you enjoyed.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [circuscrow](https://circuscrow.tumblr.com/), or if you just want sheith and voltron check me out at [circuscrow-in-space](https://circuscrow-in-space.tumblr.com/).
> 
> I'd love to hear from you. Comments and kudos are appreciated.


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